donaldtrump
Latest
For the people in the back: Video games don't cause violence
Video games do not cause violent behavior. There is no scientific, consensus-backed research supporting the idea that playing video games -- even bloody, realistic shooters -- leads to real-life acts of brutality. However, this misguided theory prevails. After a shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, left 17 people dead on February 14th, a handful of politicians decried video games for corrupting young minds and inciting violent behavior. Days later, President Donald Trump said during a meeting about safety in schools, "I'm hearing more and more people say the level of violence on video games is really shaping young people's thoughts." Tomorrow, video game industry leaders are scheduled to meet with Trump to discuss the (non-existent, completely imaginary) problem. The Entertainment Software Association will be there and it has a clear message for the White House: "Video games are plainly not the issue: entertainment is distributed and consumed globally, but the US has an exponentially higher level of gun violence than any other nation."
Trump’s science and tech report focuses on deregulation
Today, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a report on what it considers to be the Trump administration's achievements in advancing science and tech over the past year. "The Trump administration is committed to advancing technological development and conducting research and development to ensure national security, grow the economy, create well-paying jobs and improve the lives of Americans across this great nation," says the report. "Over the past year, OSTP has led coordinated administration efforts to promote emerging technologies, empower Americans to innovate and defend American technologies abroad."
Trump will meet with video game industry leaders on March 8th
After a little bit of back and forth, it appears that the White House's meeting with the video game industry is on. At today's press briefing, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed that a meeting will take place this Thursday, March 8th. Separately, the Entertainment Software Association, which has many of the top software publishers (and all three major console manufacturers) as members, confirmed that it would be participating in the meeting. The ESA's full statement follows below.
ESA hasn't received an invite to discuss video games with Trump
Yesterday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders claimed that President Trump was planning to meet with "members of the video game industry" to discuss violence in video games and how it might play into the spat of school violence that has plagued the country for years now. But it seems Sanders may have gotten ahead of herself -- the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), which represents the US video game industry, released a statement last night saying that neither it nor non of its members received an invitation to talk with the president.
Trump will meet video game execs to discuss school violence
A variety of potential actions have been discussed to limit school violence in the wake of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL last month, from the uninspired option of raising the minimum age of potential gun-buyers to President Trump's controversial suggestion of arming teachers. But a familiar target for blame appears to be on the mind of the president, as well. In today's White House press briefing, press secretary Sarah Sanders said that Trump would soon meet with "members of the video game industry" to see what could be discussed around "protect[ing] schools around the country."
Bipartisan bill calls for study on economic impact of broadband access
Two Democratic and two Republican Representatives have introduced a bill that, if enacted, would require the Department of Commerce to research how access to broadband impacts a variety of economic factors like employment, income and population growth, Wired reports. The proposed legislation, called Measuring the Economic Impact of Broadband Act of 2017, was introduced by Representatives Ro Khanna, Brian Fitzpatrick, Anna Eshoo and Ryan Costello and is a companion bill to a bipartisan Senate proposal led by Senators Amy Klobuchar and Shelley Moore Capito.
Trump administration hopes to privatize ISS after 2024
If the US government plans to stop funding the International Space Station at the end of 2024, there's a big question: what happens next? Hand the keys over to the private sector, apparently. The Washington Post has obtained a NASA document outlining a plan to privatize the ISS as part of a Trump administration budge request. The plan would request funding (starting with $150 million in fiscal 2019) to foster "commercial entities and capabilities" that could fill the ISS' role, potentially including "certain elements or capabilities" of the station itself.
Trump reportedly seeks massive budget cuts to clean energy research
The Trump administration has made it very clear that it is pro fossil fuels and has little interest in pushing programs the promote renewable energy. Now, the Washington Post reports that the president's proposed 2019 budget slashes funds for Energy Department programs focused on energy efficiency. While the proposal is just a jumping off point, the fact that it seeks to cut such funding by 72 percent underscores where the administration's interests lie and in which direction its policies will continue to go.
What Trump means when he talks nukes at the State of the Union
President Donald Trump is expected to cover five main topics in his first State of the Union address tonight, including the economy, immigration, infrastructure and trade. The fifth topic, national security, will put the spotlight on North Korea and the erratic, ad hominem nuclear standoff between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Trump himself. The tension of this relationship has spilled over to Twitter, where Trump has lobbed insults and threats at Kim over the past year. Trump called Kim "little Rocket Man" and declared the US' "nuclear button" was "much bigger and more powerful" than Kim's. In August, Trump promised "fire and fury" if North Korea didn't stop testing nuclear weapons, and Kim later called Trump a "mentally deranged dotard." Meanwhile, North Korea carried out more than a dozen nuclear tests throughout 2017, including launching intercontinental ballistic missiles theoretically capable of striking the US mainland. Its most recent ICBM test was in November.
The state of solar installers after Trump’s tariff
Two days after President Donald Trump signed hefty tariffs on imported solar panels, a five-man team was hauling slabs of them up the outside of a brownstone in Brooklyn's Sunset Park. In below-freezing January winds, they set up steel tilt racks on the roof to hold 16 panels and wired the system to a solar inverter, making the power usable in the house and able to feed back into the electrical grid. The team from Brooklyn SolarWorks, an installation company with 21 full-time employees, finished the job around sunset.
White House says it’s not considering a national 5G network
Yesterday, Axios reported that the Trump administration was considering the option of a government-controlled 5G network. Documents obtained by Axios showed that Trump's national security team had proposed a couple of options, including one where the US government funds and constructs a single network, aimed at protecting US networks from Chinese cyberattacks. However, Recode now reports that those documents were outdated and their proposed plans are not actively being considered by the administration.
FCC chairman opposes proposed government-run 5G network
It turns out former Verizon lawyer turned FCC chairman Ajit Pai's loyalties reside not with the president, but -- surprise! -- with the telecom industry. Pai has come out against the proposed government-run 5G network that's been floating around lower levels of the Trump camp. In a statement this morning, Pai said:
Mueller investigation interviews Facebook staff in Russia probe
As Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election continues, Wired reports the team interviewed "at least one member of Facebook's team that was associated with President Trump's 2016 presidential campaign." There's no word on what was discussed or implication of what this means, but it comes just a day after the Senate released Facebook's statement that it found "insignificant overlap" between Russian propaganda ads and the Trump campaign. Facebook hs reportedly handed over those Russian ads to investigators, but where things go from here remains to be seen.
Facebook, Twitter are under pressure to investigate #ReleaseTheMemo
The #ReleaseTheMemo social media campaign swelled last week as many, including Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, called for the memo to be released to the public. Now, two members of Congress are asking Twitter and Facebook to look into a potential Russian role in the viral spread of the hashtag campaign.
US coal industry saw little growth in 2017 despite White House push
The Trump administration has been eager to prop up the US coal industry despite evidence that it's in a steep decline. But did it have much of an effect? Not really. Reuters has obtained preliminary Mining Health and Safety Administration data showing that there was negligible job growth in coal mining during 2017. The field added a total of 771 jobs, reaching 54,819 -- a figure still near historic lows. There was growth in Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, but that was largely offset by mine closures in several states, including Ohio (414 jobs lost) and Texas (455).
Trump signs bill extending NSA's warrantless surveillance
On Friday afternoon, just hours before Congress failed to avert a government shutdown, the President signed into law the "FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017." The bill passed the House and Senate earlier this week with the support of many Republicans and Democrats, offering only slight adjustments to Section 702, a law that oversees the NSA's ability to spy on "international terrorists, weapons proliferators, and other important foreign intelligence targets located outside the United States."
NASA tests small nuclear reactor that could power a habitat on Mars
Everyone from Elon Musk to Donald Trump wants to send a crewed mission to Mars in the not too distant future, but there are quite a few problems that need to be solved before we can achieve that goal. A major one is the issue of energy. Long-term stays on Mars, or anywhere else for that matter, will require lots of energy, as will the trip back to Earth. However, loading a rocket up with all of the necessary fuel won't work -- we would need too much. So a way to create fuel on the go is a must and researchers at NASA, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Department of Energy announced today that they've conducted successful tests of a system that can do just that.
Senate votes to extend NSA’s warrantless surveillance program
Last week, the US House of Representatives voted to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a law that lets the National Security Agency monitor communications of non-US citizens living outside of the US. Today, the Senate has also voted in favor of renewing the law for another six years.
FCC chair proposes $500 million push for rural broadband
Bringing broadband internet access to rural areas has been an ongoing, long-term effort, but millions of Americans, including over a third of rural citizens according to 2016 reports, still don't have the option. Today FCC Chairman Ajit Pai proposed an order that would put $500 million in funding towards closing the broadband gap, institute new regulations aimed at preventing abuse of the Connect America Fund and promote broadband access in tribal lands.
Bezos family donates $33 million to Dreamers scholarship program
A number of tech companies and executives have voiced support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. But Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife MacKenzie have just given $33 million in support to DACA recipients, also known as Dreamers. The two just donated the money to TheDream.US, which provides scholarships to Dreamers, and their donation will give 1,000 DACA recipients money to attend college. It's the largest donation in history of TheDream.US. "My dad came to the US when he was 16 as part of Operation Pedro Pan," Jeff Bezos said in a statement. "He landed in this country alone and unable to speak English. With a lot of grit and determination -- and the help of some remarkable organizations in Delaware -- my dad became an outstanding citizen, and he continues to give back to the country that he feels blessed him in so many ways. MacKenzie and I are honored to be able to help today's Dreamers by funding these scholarships."
